Holkham Hall

Built between 1734 and 1764, Holkham Hall is the ancestral home of the Coke family and the Earls of Leicester.  This stately home was built by Thomas Coke, the first Earl, and it reflects the Palladian style of architecture that was very popular in Europe at the time.  Lord Burlington and his apprentice William Kent helped Coke design Holkham Hall and the estate today is the way they had designed it in the 1700’s.  It is now filled with manuscripts and statues that Coke brought back with him during his many international travels.
Thomas coke died in 1759, five years before Holkham Hall was finished.  His widow Lady Margaret Tufton made sure the house was finished and properly furnished, and ruled the manor for the next seventeen years with an iron hand.  When she passed away, the estate was passed on to the Wenman Roberts, the next living male relative.  He changed his name to Coke and his son, Thomas William Coke, inherited shortly thereafter.  Thomas William Coke is best known as ‘Coke of Norfolk’ and was an active and energetic Member of Parliament for fifty-three years.
The estate is not a museum or under the National Trust because the current Viscount, his family, and three other families still reside in the house and on the land.  The hall is closed to the public in the winter but the grounds remain open; academic researchers are allowed access to the library and other artifacts all the year round by appointment.  Many of the items that reside in the house have toured the world and the estate is part of the Historic House Association.